Nepal to host Asian Premier League 2017 T20

Al-Amin to lead Tigers

KATHMANDU, June 12: Ultimate Sports Management (USM), a Chandigarh-based sports management company, announced on Sunday that it will bring the first Asian Premier League (APL) Twenty20 cricket tournament featuring current and former international cricketers on the Tribhuvan University ground.

The organisers announced the six-team tournament from June 19 to July 4.

RS Dandiwal, the chairman of APL T20, at the announcement ceremony on Sunday. Swapnil Patil, a cricketer from the United Arab Emirates, will lead Nepal Storm with England cricketer Dimitri Mascarenhas as the mentor of the team.

The USM claims to have taken permission from International Cricket Council and National Sports Council, Nepal’s supreme sports governing, to organise the event in Nepal. Doubts over the event remain after APL announcement, considering that ICC had opposed organising a similar event by a private company in the past.

The organisers claims to telecast live all the matches in the international sports broadcaster Sony Six, including players’ auction at Hotel Annapurna on Monday. In all, 108 players will be auctioned including 20 international cricketers. Former Hong Kong player Haseeb Amjad and Bangladeshi paceman Al-Amin Hossain, who is set to captain the Tigers, were presented during the press meet on Sunday.

As the organisers had asked for an online application for the auction, none of the Nepali players may have applied for the event. The tournament was previous planned for Sharjah. The USM did not clarify whether the event will have any Nepali players, while also keeping in dark about the owners of the franchises, reports kathmandupost.ekantipur.com.

Editor : A.H.M Moazzem Hossain

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